Game apparatus



(No Model.) I S. M. BARNETT.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL M. BARNETT, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

GAME APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,161, dated June 16, 1891.

Application filed-December 15, 1890. Serial No. 374,844- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. BARNETT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus by the use of which a game or games may be played by any number of people, either so as to have several of them co-operate with each other as partners or to have each of them play by himself.

. The purpose of my invention is to provide as a means of amusement and for a trial of skill a suitable receptacle, hereinafter called a pool, and movable pieces, preferably in the form of animals, adapted to be projected upward as well as laterally when a stroke by hand or by a suitable instrument is applied to them, so as to be thereby landed within or upon such pool.

The various parts of the game apparatus and the features invented by me are set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In said drawings, wherein like letters throughout the several views indicate like parts, Figure 1 represents a vertical section along line as x of the part of the game apparatus called the pool, while Fig. 2 reprerents a ground plan of the same. Fig. 3 shows a top view of one of the imitations of animals to be employed in the game and forming part of my apparatus on the point of beingprojected into the air byasuitable instrument in the hand of a player. Figs. 4 and 5 show longitudinal vertical sections of imitations of animals constructed according to my invention; and Figs. 6 and 7, vertical crosssections thereof, Fig. 6 correspondingwith Fig. 4 and Fig. 7 with Fig. 5.

While the drawings show and the specification hereinafter refers to frogs as the ani-' mals imitated in the toys employed by me, I do not confine myself to such imitations of frogs, as imitations of any other living beings, including human beings, may be so utilized, it being best to include in each game apparatus a number of animals of different species, so

an imitation of an animal different and distinct from those played with by other parties taking part in the game.

A is the bottom of the pool.

B is the wall or fence surrounding or iiiclosing the same. On the left-hand side of Figs. 1 and 2 such wall is represented to be continuous, while on the right-hand side the same is shown to be constructed of a line of posts 1.) p, which may be placed at any desirable distance from each other.

0 is a platform outside of and surrounding said pool. Said platform may likewise be surrounded by a fence B, either made continuous, as shown on the left-hand sides of Figs. 1 and 2, or made with openings and of posts p p, with open spaces between them.

E E are radial partitions connecting fences B and D, so as to create pockets between such fences.

F is a circular line on the face of platform 0, and G such a line on base of pool A, and H II are diametrical lines on the face of base A.

I is a bell in the center of the pool, supported by and suspended from a standard J.

K represents an imitation of a frog, L being the outer skin or coating of its body.

In Fig. 4, M M are small blocks attached to the inner surface of the skin, a spiral spring N being confined between said blocks, such blocks forming the shoes thereof, and said spring resting within a cup P, which serves to protect and guide the same. 0 is a knob or projection underneath the lower block M. The part of the main body back of said spring and surrounding cap P is preferably filled with a soft and yielding substance, such as wadding, While the part in front of such spring may either be filled with such substance or with non-compressible material, or may be made of a hard substance, such as wood or metal.

In Fig. 5 an angular spring Q is employed, its lower branches extending outward from the main body and furnishing the frames for the legs, while the upper part of said spring is embedded within the body of the frog, so as to form a part of its frame, suitable stuffing being employed, as mentioned above, 'to fill out the skin, so as to give it the configuration desired.

lVhi'le I prefer the toy to be made of a pliable skin filled with a yielding substance, so as to prevent injury to the players in case they be struck by the same accidentally while said animals are flying through the air, I do not wish to confine myself to such construction of the same, as the body of the frog might be made of a solid substance, such as wood, slight changes only in the mode of attaching to it the spring, and in the position of the spring, which changes will readily suggest themselves to any mechanic, being required in such case.

B is a wand or bar with which to apply a stroke downward to the head of the frog, whereby the under side of such head, and where the toy illustrated in Figs. el and 6 is used the knob O in line of spring N, will be forced toward the plane or surface underneath it. This will lead to a partial compression of the spring, and the re-expansion of the same when the wand rebounds from contact with such head will force the body upward into the air, it depending largely upon the skill of the player in what direction and to what distance the frog will be thrown. As while being so projected into the air the body will be apt to be revolved around its own axis, it may when landing again on the surface fall either on its back or may land again in a position corresponding with the one occupied by it before the stroke was applied to it.

It will readily be seen that much amuse ment can be obtained either by asingle player or by a number of them playing jointly in their efforts to make a frog or a given number of frogs jump into the pool or upon the surrounding platform, a score being kept as to the number of such successes achieved by each of the players, various sections or fields within the pool and on the platform representing different scores being indicated for such purpose either by different colors or provided with suitable numbers or names. \Vhen the game is to be played so as to tell fortunes or predict events, the various fields will be provided with proper inscriptions. The bell in the center of the pool is intended to be the main objective point, and the player whose frogs will most frequently leap against such bell, and thereby make it sound, may be declared the winner, or may thus add largely to the score with which he is credited. The landing of the frog on its back may involve a forfeit, and many other rules may be established in connection with the game, so as to amuse the players and to incite them to displays of skill.

Of course the shape of the pool A, platform 0, and of the parts connected therewith may be varied in many ways, it depending largely upon the intended cost of the apparatus whether to employ all the features described in connection therewith above.

Instead of making the head of the animal depressible, any other extremity may be so constructed and a spring placed in proximity to such extremity to produce the movement. desired.

It will generally be found best and cheapest to place fences l3 and E E within and attach the same to a part of the box inclosing the toys employed. The outer rim of such part of a box may then be employed in place of fence D. However, such walls or fences B andEE and D while attached to each other may be made detachable from the bases A (l, in which case the skeleton formed'by all or some of said walls or fences may be placed on any suitable surface, such as that of a table or on the floor.

I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1. A game apparatus comprisingapool and a toy of a configuration in imitation of a living being and constructed with a part of one of its extremities depressible, and provided with an elastic portion, whereby upon imparting to the same a downward stroke such toy may be projected upward and laterally into such pool, substantially as set forth.

2. A game apparatus comprising a pool and a toy of a configuration in imitation of a living being, constructed with part of one of its extremities depressible and having a spring in proximity to such extremity and contained within its body and adapted to project the body upward and laterally into such pool upon a downward stroke being applied to such extremity, substantially as set forth.

3. A game apparatus comprising a pool and a toy of a configuration in imitation of a living being, constructed with part of one of its extremities deprcssible and having a spring capable of being compressed by a stroke applied to such extremity, the main body of the toy being made of a flexible or yielding fabric containing a yielding or compressible stufiing, substantially as set forth.

4. A toy of a configuration in imitation of a living being, constructed with part of one of its extremities depressible, and with a pliable skin inclosing a spiral spring capable of being compressed by a stroke applied to such extremity, part of the space within such skin being stuffed with a soft or pliable substance, the shoes of such spring beingattached to or resting against such skin, substantially as set forth.

5. A toy of a configuration in imitation of a living being, constructed with part of one of its extremities depressible, its body inelosing an upright spring, and a knob or shoe, as O, on the under side of the body in line of the spring and normally held clear of the'surface supporting the toy, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 13th day of December, A. D. 1890.

-SAMUEL M. BARNET". \Vitnesses:

CHAs. L. HORACK, HUGO KOELKER. 

